Artist of the week - Rainer Maria Rilke

When you fully commit to moving to NY and try to pursue whatever it is you pursue, most of the time you have to say good-bye to your childhood friends. Fortunately, Shane, my old neighbor and one of my best-friends is working for a private equity fund in NY. Shane came by on Saturday for a few hours, we had lunch, spent some time in the park and then started to peak through my girlfriends poetry collection. At this point Rilke came up for the second time that day. Not only did I mention him to Shane but I was reminded that Amy Elkins had quoted him on her blog, only hours before.

This leads me into the Artist of the week. Rainer Maria Rilke is considered to be one of the greatest German poets of all time. I was first introduced to him almost 3 years ago when Laura handed me my very own copy of "Letters to a Young Poet". It was the first thing she gave to me, only 7 days after we had met. She insisted that this book would change my life. She was right. I take that copy with me on every photo excursion I go on. Even though I don't read through it on every trip, I feel comfort in knowing its there.

The book is a compilation of ten letters written between 1903 and 1908 that Rilke wrote in response to a poet asking Rainer to critic his work. In many of the letters Rilke starts off by saying that he cannot help the young artist but usually ends with advice that could easily change the world, or at least an artist.

On a trip I took to Maine last year I found myself reading letter 6 over and over. I spent many days alone camping and shooting and for the last two days a friend let me stay in his families cabin, there was nobody within a 5 mile radius of my location. As the sun fell the first night a lot of things went through my mind, many of which were pretty frightening. Over the next 2 days I fell deeply in love with that letter. Recently, this letter has found its way back into my life while I deal with the pain and isolation that comes with my current situation (knee surgery). Below is a selected paragraph.

...But perhaps these are the very hours during which solitude grows; for its growing is painful as the growing of boys and sad as the beginning of spring. But that must not confuse you. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours-that is what you must be able to attain. To be solitary as you were when you were a child, when grownups walked around involved with matters that seemed larger and important because they looked so busy and because you didn't understand a thing about what they were doing.

Laura and I decided to keep up her tradition of naming our plants after poets/philosophers, see Rilke here.